Here's The Salary You Need To Afford A Home In 22 U.S. Cities

Saving for a home is challenging, but it’s even tougher when a local market is stacked against you.

For example, assuming you make San Francisco’s median income and can pay a 10 percent down payment, just one percent of homes in San Francisco are affordable for you. That’s according to the new Home Affordability Report released by home financing company Unison, which analyzes the cost of buying a home in 22 major U.S. cities.

Though some of the results of the report are disheartening, there are some brighter spots: The majority of homes in Phoenix, for example, are actually attainable for people earning median incomes.

Unison

The above map shows affordability at median salary with a 10 percent down payment, though most experts recommend putting down 20 percent for the best chances of closing the sale and avoiding mortgage insurance, Unison spokesperson Michael Micheletti told HuffPost. However, that gold standard can be tough to achieve: Homebuyers under 35 muster only an eight percent downpayment on average, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Unison’s number-crunching yielded data on the average home prices in each city and the annual salary needed to purchase a home with both 10 and 20 percent down payments. Contrary to what you might think, a 10 percent downpayment requires a higher salary, because it almost always comes with monthly mortgage insurance payments, Micheletti said. Here are Unison’s results, ranked from most affordable to least:

1

Kansas City, Missouri

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Median home price: $107,933Median salary: $62,178Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $17,900Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $14,950

2

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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Median home price: $133,142Median salary: $61,892Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $22,081Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $18,442

3

San Antonio, Texas

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Median home price: $140,935Median salary: $55,566Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $23,373Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $19,522

4

New Orleans, Louisiana

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Median home price: $188,055Median salary: $49,297Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $31,188Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $26,048

5

Charlotte, North Carolina

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Median home price: $193,403Median salary: $57,933Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $32,075Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $26,789

6

Phoenix, Arizona

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Median home price: $198,679Median salary: $56,579Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $32,950Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $27,520

7

Las Vegas, Nevada

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Median home price: $205,177Median salary: $53,060Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $34,028Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $28,420

8

Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Median home price: $220,714Median salary: $74,490Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $36,605Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $30,572

9

Nashville, Tennessee

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Median home price: $243,678Median salary: $57,739Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $40,413Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $33,753

10

Chicago, Illinois

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Median home price: $244,652Median salary: $66,084Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $40,575Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $33,888

11

Atlanta, Georgia

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Median home price: $250,855Median salary: $58,121Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $41,603Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $34,747

12

Boise, Idaho

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Median home price: $253,293Median salary: $54,297Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $42,008Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $35,085

13

Salt Lake City, Utah

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Median home price: $255,871Median salary: $63,520Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $45,435Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $35,442

14

Miami, Florida

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Median home price: $278,405Median salary: $52,040Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $46,172Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $38,563

15

Dallas, Texas

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Median home price: $289,750Median salary: $61,033Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $48,054Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $40,135

16

Denver, Colorado

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Median home price: $318,164Median salary: $69,754Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $52,766Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $44,071

17

Portland, Oregon

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Median home price: $378,961Median salary: $64,635Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $62,849Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $52,492

18

Seattle, Washington

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Median home price: $528,387Median salary: $75,822Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $87,631Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $73,190

19

Los Angeles, California

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Median home price: $555,073Median salary: $62,312Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $92,057Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $76,886

20

Boston, Massachusetts

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Median home price: $584,622Median salary: $84,955Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $96,957Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $80,979

21

New York City, New York

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Median home price: $637,704Median salary: $74,397Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $105,761Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $88,332

22

San Francisco, California

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Median home price: $1,296,916Median salary: $92,501Salary needed with a 10 percent down payment: $215,089Salary needed with a 20 percent down payment: $179,643